William Hendry on wed 1 may 02

> Hi all -
>
> I think the idea came after noticing that in commercial facilities
no
> one touches the tiles ... they do the whole trip from start to end on the
> horizontal ... and there is no warping.
>
> In our home studios we do not have the equipment to leave the tiles
> alone .. we have to move them from slab to shelves to kiln. So the
thinking
> began on how and when to achieve the uniform alignment of molecules needed
to
> prevent warping.
>
> Elizabeth came up with the idea of dropping them forcefully from
waist
> height at an early stage while the clay was still wet. Cut them to shape
> afterwards, since the force of the drop will wonk them out of square.
>
> The only trick is not to move them off horizontal until they are
> leather hard. And even then ... slide them .....don't grab by a corner.
>
> Don't over think this. Don't complicate this. Drop ... then do not
> move them vertically at all until dry hard.
>
> You can cut, carve, decorate, add, subtract, use slips, underglaze,
> glaze .... just do not lift even a corner. If you do lift by accident drop
> them again ... but more gently.
>
> I really did not believe this would work. I tried a dozen different
> ways but nothing ever warped if I followed the basics. I have worked on
> fabric, newspapers, boards and foam. I have dried them in full afternoon
sun
> and on old refrigerator shelves in my studio. I have fired everything from
> porcelain thru stoneware to raku clay. I have even forgotten some I had
cut
> for test tiles ... they dried overnight stuck to fabric and they did not
> warp. My sizes have been up to 36 inches long by 20 inches wide. I have
done
> 9 foot long multiple piece murals. Nothing has warped since I started
doing
> it this way.
>
> It sounds too simple to work ... I tried to complicate it for a
while
> ...I tried to prove the theory wrong ... but it is just that easy.
>
> Chris Campbell - in North Carolina - have a stack of flat tiles sitting
> waiting to be fired for the fourth time ... so you know I don't naturally
> tend to do things the easiest way.
>
>
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